Thursday, February 4, 2010

Who wouldn't want a chair formerly occupied by two Oscar winning actors?

A big thanks to Cote de Texas for featuring photos of my bedroom in her post on the chic beachy striped rug yesterday. There is a fun story behind the rug that involves a fantastic charity event, the DDD (decorators, dealers and designers) that benefits the Southampton Fresh Air Home, a local charity. Held in June, the event features rooms of furniture and antiques donated by some of the most fabulous homes in the Hamptons. Designers and clients buy the expensive tickets for the event and line up at 5:00, waiting for the doors to oven at 5:30. When the doors open, a stampede of blue blazers and sundresses make their way at a heart racing pace through the rooms, buying nearly everything in their tracks.

In 2008, one of the rooms was entirely furnished with stunning furniture and decorative objects from the set of Something's Gotta Give, and as you might imagine, that room was a first destination for the design savvy crowd. By the time I got there, the English Country sofas, upholstered in delicate eggshell blue linen and the large mahagony coffee table were long gone. Lucky for me, no one seemed to look down and see the beachy blue striped cotton rug-bingo! I was also very fortunate to find a beautiful set of 12 delicate framed cameos in beautiful gold frames--a designer had decided not to buy them at the last moment and I was there to snatch them up. Tucked in a corner sat an unclaimed pretty Oly Studio Hannah chair and ottoman upholstered in raffia and cotton duck, also from the movie set.

There have been years when I've bought at auctions, caught in the heady buying frenzy, only to have a severe case of buyers remorse when I got the items home. But that did not happen with my fabulous finds from Something's Gotta Give--they were just perfect.

The set of 12 cameo prints were broken into sets of 8 and 4, covering 2 walls in the sitting room. The tiny cameos make a big impression when grouped and hung in a grid pattern. The two black lacquered side tables are from Old Town Crossing in Southampton and the white duck love seat is from English Country Antiques.

Small and delicate, the cameos come to life in smart gold frames and beveled white matting.

Here's another favorite photo which shows how a grouping of small inexpensive photos can look spectacular when massed together on one wall.

Larger than life cameos hung closely together, make a big impression in this living room.